SS-Obersturmbannführer Walter Renken

[wolfguy]

Any bio and photo of this man?

He was head of RSHA Amt IV E 1.

I think he disappeared at the end of the war.

Thanks
Wolfguy

[George_W]

Walter Heinrich Renken
born 13.11.1905 Danzig-Neufahrwasser
SS No. 150396
NSDAP No. 959943
Promoted to SS-Ostubaf. on 30.01.1944

Mentioned two times in BBL:

1943, promotion to ORR of SS-Stubaf. RR Renken - listed with RSHA [BBL 33/1943]

1944, transfer of SS-Ostubaf. ORR Renken from RSHA to Stapo Kattowitz as Leiter d. Abt.IV [BBL 51/1944]

Bio of Renken at German wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Renken

George

[wolfguy]

Thanks George

Wolfguy

[Georges JEROME]

on 1940 Referent "Angelegenheiten des Abwehrbeauftragten des RMdI (I B 4) then in Amt II (II A 4 Reichsverteidigungsangelegenheiten)

then from Referent II A 4 Reichsverteidigungsangelegenheiten to Referent IV E 1 Allgemeine Abwehrangelegenheiten

(Michael Wildt Generation des Unbedingen )

[AliasDavid]

Hello,

Additional information (German Wikipedia):

Studied law
1937 in SD-Hauptamt, Abteilung III 225, SS-Oberscharführer.
1941 Regierungsrat and SS-Sturmbannführer.
01.45 tasked with organizing the withdrawal ("Absetzbewegung"). Was he still head of the Kattowitz Gestapo then or back in the RSHA? They reference Norbert Frei: Ausbeutung, Vernichtung, Oeffentlichkeit: neue Studien zur nationalsozialistischen Lagerpolitik

UlrichH

[wolfguy]

Thanks Georges and David

David, from the withdrawal date of Jan. 45, I would guess it meant evacuation from Kattowitz in the wake of the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive.

I wish there was a photo of this guy. He had an important job - Reich Defense Matters and Counterintelligence.

Wolfguy

[AliasDavid]

Hello

..from the withdrawal date of Jan. 45, I would guess it meant evacuation from Kattowitz in the wake of the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive.

The other possibility is that after leaving Kattowitz he was tasked with helping the Gestapo agents to go underground or abroad on an RSHA level. To me the German Wikipedia text seems to suggest this. Therefore I'd check the sources if they were available to me.

UlrichH

[wolfguy]

I agree, that is a possibility too. In any event, he must have gone underground himself as he was apparently never seen again. Or he died and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Wolfguy

[smetanin albert]

from SSO

[wolfguy]

Smetanin Albert

Thank You Very Much!

wolfguy

[smetanin albert]

Add Info

[steve248]

Renken did not disappear at the end of the war. He is listed as an internee at 101 CIC (Civilian Internment Camp), Esterwegen in the British Zone, 1946. Noted as ORR Walter Heinrich Renken, RSHA IV A3. Nothing more in the file about him.
Deutsche Dienststelle, Berlin, will have his internment record and any other documentation.

[wolfguy]

Steve

Thanks for clearing that up.

Why do you think there is no follow up info?
Would he not have gone through a denazification proceeding?

When you say his documentation is in the Deutsche Dienststelle Berlin, do you mean the Bundesarchiv Berlin?

Thanks
Wolfguy

[steve248]

Deutsche Dienststelle was formally known as WAst and deals in POW records. It probably comes under the Bundesarchiv financial umbrella but this is an assumption on my part.

If Renken was denazified before 1948 in the British Zone his file is probably at Bundesarchiv Koblenz.
If he was denazified later it will be any number of local Hauptstaatarchiven in the "former" British Zone.

[Ludger]

Walter Heinrich Renken
born 13.11.1905 Danzig-Neufahrwasser
SS No. 150396
NSDAP No. 959943
Promoted to SS-Ostubaf. on 30.01.1944

Mentioned two times in BBL:

1943, promotion to ORR of SS-Stubaf. RR Renken - listed with RSHA [BBL 33/1943]

1944, transfer of SS-Ostubaf. ORR Renken from RSHA to Stapo Kattowitz as Leiter d. Abt.IV [BBL 51/1944]

Bio of Renken at German wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Renken

George

Very interstesting infos on Renken.
But one question: I thought that Stapo Leitstellen only had three departments (Abt. I: Verwaltung; Abt. II: Innenpolitische Polizei; Abt. III: Abwehrpolizei).
What is the function of Abteilung IV?